wwebradyfandomcom-20200214-history
Finn Bálor
Fergal Devitt (July 25, 1981) better known by his ring name Finn Bálor, a Irish professional wrestler who performed in NXT and WWE. He is currently signed under Raw brand. After signing with WWE's developmental system, NXT, and adopting his current ring name, Bálor became a one-time NXT Champion, with his reign being the longest in the title's history at 292 days (although WWE recognizes it at 293). Also during his time in NXT, Bálor became to first co-winner of the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Samoa Joe. Shortly after arriving on the main roster, Bálor became the first wrestler in WWE history to win a world title in their pay-per-view debut, as well as becoming the quickest wrestler in WWE history to win a world title at 27 days following his main roster debut by becoming the inaugural Universal Champion at SummerSlam (2016)., and he holds the shortest reign for the WWE Universal Championship for only 22 hours. Professional wrestling career On 15 May 2014, it was reported that Balor had signed with WWE and would report to the promotion's developmental territory, NXT, once his visa went through. On 28 July 2014, WWE officially confirmed Devitt's signing, announcing he would report to NXT that same day. He made his NXT debut at the television tapings the following day, coming to Hideo Itami's aid in his feud with The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor). His debut match took place at the 23 October tapings, when he and Itami defeated Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd. After weeks of feuding with The Ascension, Bálor and Itami defeated them at NXT Takeover: R Evolution on 11 December, where Bálor debuted his signature body paint. Bálor then entered into a NXT Championship number one contender's tournament, defeating Curtis Axel in the quarterfinals on 21 January and Hideo Itami in the semi-finals on 4 February. The finals of the tournament were held at NXT TakeOver: Rival, where Bálor defeated Adrian Neville to become the new #1 contender to the NXT Championship. Bálor would then go on to face Kevin Owens, losing the match for the NXT title, after injuring his knee. At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable in May, Bálor defeated Tyler Breeze to once again become the number one contender. Bálor received his title shot on July 4 at WWE The Beast in the East in Tokyo, Japan, where he defeated Owens to become the new NXT Champion. Balor retained his title in a Ladder Match against Owens on August 22, at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. On August 25, 2015, Balor teamed with Samoa Joe in a dark match before SmackDown defeating the Lucha Dragons, which was a first round match in the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic tournament. On September 30, they defeated Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady to advance. On 7 October, at NXT TakeOver: Respect, Bálor and Joe defeated The Mechanics (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) in the semi–finals and Baron Corbin and Rhyno in the finals to win the tournament. After his title match with Apollo Crews, Joe turned on Bálor and attacked him, which ignited a feud between the two, throughout November and December, and a title match, at NXT TakeOver: London, on 16 December, where Bálor defeated Joe to retain. On 1 April at NXT TakeOver: Dallas, Bálor successfully defended his title in a rematch with Joe. On 17 April, Bálor became the longest reigning NXT Champion in history by surpassing Neville's previous record of 287 days. On 21 April, Bálor lost the NXT Championship to Samoa Joe at a non-televised live event in Lowell, Massachusetts, ending his reign at 292 days. On the May 11 episode of NXT, General Manager William Regal announced that Balor would get his rematch for Joe's title at NXT Takeover: The End in a steel cage match. On June 8, Bálor was defeated by Joe in what was his first Takeover loss. On a 24 June taping of NXT, which would be aired on 13 July, Bálor fought Shinsuke Nakamura in a loss, which would be his final match in NXT. On July 19, Bálor was drafted to the Raw brand as the fifth overall pick in the 2016 WWE draft. On the July 25th episode of Raw (Bálor's 35th birthday), the WWE Universal Championship was announced and that the winners of two fatal four-way matches would face each other in the main event, the winner earning the right to face Seth Rollins, who was automatically granted #1 contendership status by Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, at SummerSlam for the title. Bálor won the first match against Rusev, Cesaro, and Kevin Owens, while Roman Reigns won the second against Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus. Bálor would go on to defeat Reigns in the main event, earning #1 contendership and his first WWE PPV championship match as a result. At SummerSlam, Bálor defeated Seth Rollins to become the inaugural Universal Champion. Since then, WWE.com reported that he sustained a shoulder injury during the match, and an MRI revealed a labrum tear. Raw general manager Mick Foley later announced on Twitter that Bálor would be relinquishing his newly won Universal Championship due to his injury. Because of the injury, it is expected that Bálor will be out four to six months. On the August 22 episode of Raw Balor officially relinquished the world championship with a tournament set up to crown a new title holder. External links Category:Male professional wrestlers Category:Irish wrestler Category:NXT Champions Category:Current Superstar Category:RAW Superstars Category:Universal Champions Category:Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Winners Category:UK